7 Ways To Manage Your Workload On The Go

In this day and age, it is much more understandable and expected even to work from home or from the road. Amidst busy schedules, liaising with companies all around the world, and the ease of the internet, there’s really no reason for anyone to be stationed in an office in order to complete all their work effectively. However, a heavy workload is even harder to tackle when you are constantly trying to catch flights or working out of hotel rooms and coffee shops—even the simplest tasks can seem much more difficult without the support of team members close by. In this article we discuss a few ways you can manage your workload when working on the go.

Know How And What To Prioritize

When starting your workday it might seem like everything is a priority, but in reality, only a few things on your to-do list are vital for you to get done by the end of the day. This is why learning how to effectively prioritize is key for anyone who works on their own or while traveling; it can be incredibly overwhelming to try and fit everything into your schedule in only a few hours.

Start by figuring out what is absolutely necessary to the success of your projects and what takes the least amount of time to complete. From there you can plan out your time according to how much you have left after all the small tasks are out of the way, allocating the rest of it to the bigger, more arduous ones that might be causing you the most anxiety.

Use The Right Tools

If you are working on the go then most likely you are spending all of your time online. This is why the right tools can make a dramatic impact on how effectively you can manage your workload throughout the day and how much more difficult basic tasks will be without them. Email is vital in staying in communication with your team as well as clients on a more elaborate and professional level and can be accessed anytime you have a moment to sit down or browse your phone.

When it comes to big company deals, a secure virtual data room is key in ensuring that all confidential information remains safe while you are travelling and easy for you to access from anywhere around the world. This is a platform that also allows for quick collaboration amongst various parties during long and tedious deals.

Skype is the fastest way to get some face-to-face communication with your team members when it’s absolutely necessary. Since you won’t be working out of an office alongside them, this is the best alternative to staying in constant communication and being able to hear their questions or answers in real time without the delays accompanied by email use.

Know When To Say ‘No’

Unless you have the ability to travel back in time you will have to say ‘no’ to certain tasks or projects from time to time, and that’s okay. No one can handle everything that is thrown at them, nor should they be expected to. But, it’s up to you to know how much you can handle and to muster up the confidence to express when you are feeling overwhelmed or incapable of taking on something new. Your team will appreciate the honesty and you will have less mental strain as you work through the rest of your to-do list on the road.

Ask For Help When You Need It

Similar to knowing when to say ‘no’, you should also be comfortable with asking for help from your team when you need it. Taking on a task that you don’t feel confident in completing won’t workout well for anyone, so honesty is the best policy in this situation. You can go to your manager and ask them to delegate some of your work to someone else, or directly to another team member who you know doesn’t have as much on their plate. At the end of the day, you will be better able to handle the work you already have and allow someone more capable to handle the rest.

Take Advantage Of Your Time

When you’re on the go you will have a lot of time that is spent on air planes, trains, busses, etc., so it’s important to take advantage of all the time as much as possible. This could be simply pulling out your phone to check your email or sign into your virtual data room and monitor the activity within it. It could also mean working on an airplane where there isn’t much of anything else to do for a few hours. The important thing is to not let any time be wasted, especially when trying to manage a heavy workload.

Put It In A Planner

When in doubt of whether you’ll have enough time for a certain task or if you will remember it, put it in a planner. It could be a physical agenda or the calendar on your computer—whatever your choice, be sure to document all your work somewhere where you can be reminded if you do forget a certain task or a meeting that you need to attend. Your planner will be your fallback in case you are a bit too scatterbrained while travelling to know what is a priority on your to-do list.

Understand That Nothing Will Be Perfect

As much as you try, nothing will ever be perfect and this also applies to your work. Of course, it’s important to put in all your effort and do the best job you can, but you need to let go of perfectionism and know when it’s time to move on to another task. Not only will this lift some weight off of your shoulders as you work while travelling, but your team will also recognize the effort you’ve put in and understand that you’ve given it your all.